The Tesseract (2005)

I've read the novel before knowing that it was already made into film. I was so glad actually. I was also shocked to learn that the plot was set in Thailand where in fact the novel's setting was in Manila, Philippines - that's why the names of some characters were Filipino (Rosa, Lita,...) I'm thinking now that the movie did not fully gave justice to the original novel. Was it because the director and producer were not Filipino or American? I know we've got the choice of selecting the location (just like the THE GREAT RAID movie) but to alter the content of the story is something not proper. What's your comment Mr. Garland? I don't know why you allow such changes? To those who just watched the movie, you may also opt to read the novel and find out the difference - there's got a lot of difference. Bet, you would say that you only wasted your money for the movie.

Oxide Pang's adaptation of Alex Garland's novel, The Tesseract, employs every visual trick in the book to disguise the lack of strong narrative. However, the glossy veneer soon wears thin, revealing a rather dull story which ultimately fails to impress.Jonathan Rhys-Meyers plays a desperate drug runner embroiled in a deal that goes wrong, when his consignment mysteriously goes missing. The tale is told in a non-linear fashion that at first confuses but eventually becomes clearer to those viewers that stay the distance. The problem is that director Pang leaves it too late in the day to start filling in the blanks, by which time all but the most patient will have given up watching.The film does get marginally better towards the end – but is it really worth the wait?

Take "Memento," throw in a little "Oliver Twist," add a little "Taxi Driver," and then have the whole thing directed and edited by severally mentally deranged gerbils on crack and you get this completely awful film.At turns boring, overly bloody, and completely incomprehensible, it's got neither good style nor solid substance. The ending is terrible. The middle is even worse.Pass this one up... until you happen to be a mentally deranged gerbil on crack. Then it might be worth watching.I have to add two more lines of type to meet IMDb's requirements for writing a long-enough review. That's too bad, because there really isn't anything else to say about this lousy movie. Ummmm... so, how are you today? How's the family dog? w00f w00f w00f.

Firstly, the film is as much about the characters as the plot, and that is always hard for U.S. movie goers to handle. But, if you can just get your head out of the television this film is well worth the viewing. The plot is simple, but the characters make it more complicated, because the characters are complicated. The central theme is desperation, each individuals desperation and how it plays out when fate brings together a series of events. In this case criminal activity. Again, the crime isn't so much the point of this film (although crime is always a fine cinematic filter for human interaction), it's how these various people, with all there personal demons and angels that they carry around interact with the crime.